Dries Van Noten – my view
This is what the show looked like from my vantage point. Beautiful from any angle……
Photos: DChen
Dries Van Noten – Couture bent
Dries Van Noten found his inspiration within the architectural shapes of 50’s Italian and Spanish couture. His collaboration with photographer James Reeves for his city night scape prints cleverly pulled the collection back into present day relevance.
It wasn’t one of his more emotional collections, but the beauty and sophistication quotient was more than enough to make up for it. There was definitely a sense of calm that ran through the presentation. The shapes and the prints shared equal billing in importance throughout the collection. Well conceived and finely tuned. Another winner for Mr. Van Noten.
photos courtesy: Yannis Vlamos / GoRunway.com
Milanese beauty – Luisa Beccaria
photo: DChen
No time for runway shows in Milan… just a tornado of showroom appointments packed in two and a half days. A pleasant surprise was at our first stop this morning to via Formentini… at Luisa Beccaria. A beautiful s.s 2012 collection inspired by Mediterranean colors and popular vacations spots. Amongst the treasures, this gorgeous cotton tulle gown in an unusual shade of butter yellow. An unexpected treat.
Jil Sander – Pure
Raf Simons consistently ups the intellectual bar each season at Jil Sander. He continues his exploration of couture and how it fits in today’s world. He ended his show with these four gowns in white. As tradition goes, couture shows often close with the bride. These very pure, beautiful gowns begin with Jil Sander’s love of a beautiful white shirt.
Raf Simons has been at the helm of Jil Sander for 6 years now. Season after season, he continues to respect Jil Sander’s aesthetic. With each collection, we see more and more of him and his new ideas. It’s now Mr. Simons’ very strong vision that carries the brand forward. In Milan, this is the collection I am always the most eager to see each season…. first to see how he embraces the house’s legacy and how he’s built his new ideas around them.
Photos courtesy of: Photo: Yannis Vlamos / GoRunway.com
NYC Fashion WEAK – Thom Browne
No… that’s not a typo in the heading. It’s been mentioned that I only have good things to say when I write. I admit, I do like to say nice things about new ideas and beautiful things. But… sometimes…. it’s just not there…..
What is this man doing to the fashion landscape? I’m all for imagination, conceptualism and a need for extreme expression…BUT… must it make me wince and furrow my brow as well? Thom Browne did revolutionize men’s fashion with his hyper tailored shorter suit jacket and his high water skinny pants. That took a bit to get used to but used to I did get. It became a major influence for men and how they wear their pants years later. But this?…. I refuse to get used to.
In the absence of John Galliano, Mr. Browne is toeing the originality line a little closely. He treaded into Galliano’s territory with his highly theatrical presentation in a beautiful Beaux Arts reading room at the New York Public Library. The models entered what seemed to be a dinner party in a 1920’s salon.
His idea of distorting proportions could have been really interesting, but some of the looks bordered on ridiculous. When even the most mad designers spew idea after idea onto the same look at a fashion show, if you have a good eye, you can apply some visual dissection and pull the look apart….and deep within you’ll find the buried treasure. This boat sunk deep without any traces of treasures to be found, anywhere….
Mr. Browne’s adventures into the women’s fashion is a more recent. His men’s collection presented earlier this summer in Paris caused a prior bout of head scratching for me. His play on proportion is obvious. My guess is that he didn’t finish what he had to say during men’s so it continued into his women’s collection. If HE has to suffer through it, so can SHE. Maybe that’s what was going through the head of Mr. Browne when he created this collection.
photos courtesy : Marcus Tondo / GoRunway.com & Imaxtree
NY Fashion Week – Gregory Parkinson
There’s a lot of noise about unexpected colors for Spring.Summer 2012. The designers who have shown the first few days of NY Fashion Week have definitely blasted that as a trend. Only fitting that GREGORY PARKINSON, the master of mix of fabrics and colors decides to take a quieter road. His nearly all white collection is a breath of fresh air in all this craziness of print and strange color combinations. A pure more serene collection is harder to pull off. Only the gifted can produce a collection that’s almost zen-like that can provide the same wow factor a collection that throws every color and trend at you.
Gregory Parkinson presents one of his best collections to date. The details are what sets each look apart. The shapes are simple but it’s the textures of the fabric he chooses, the quiet embroideries, the layers of organzas, silk voiles and laces mixed with washed cottons and sheer jerseys that give his looks polish and presence. Beautiful calm…. a welcome break.
photos courtesy: Amanda De Simone / GoRunway.com
NY Fashion Week – The Row
Now, who would have thunk…. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the infamous twin child stars, could have what it takes to be a serious force to be reckoned with on the New York Fashion Week calendar? Their five year old collection, THE ROW, has gained prominence not because of who they are…. but because of what they have been able to produce style-wise and also be commercially viable. Collection after collection of well made, sophisticated and wearable clothes. Period. From a very up close vantage point, I experienced the fashion savvy both Ashley and Mary-Kate possess. In the beginning, they were voracious fashion consumers. They loved fashion and they loved shopping. I witnessed the armloads of Balenciaga, Rick Owens, Chloe etc… They loved collecting from all the best designer pieces and wearing it their way, often with their vintage pieces. Then the birth of their luxury collection, The Row. Would they be taken seriously with all their licensing with Wal-Mart and their less expensive products? It only took a season or two. It was their credibility at retail that soon became their strong foundation.
They set out to make the perfect jacket, the perfect dress, the perfect leather pant, the perfect tee shirt etc… always a clever and sophisticated take on a classic. The fit was perfection, the fabrics luxurious and women wanted to wear it. A fairly simple formula really. In beginning, the two sisters actually presented the collections to us. It was impressive to watch and listen to them explain each piece. I appreciated their understanding of their collection and the passion behind it. It was those first buying appointments where they both whipped off their tops and offered to try on some of the samples to show the cut and the fit. Respect for what they had set out to do was established then and there.
The collection has expanded beyond the perfect tee. It’s a full collection now and their presentations are well attended by the international fashion flock. They’ve launched eyewear and a bag collection. Still… they manage to stay true to their original vision. Always worth a few points in my book.
photos courtesy of : The Row
sorry….couldn’t help myself.
